In April of 2007, my brother convinced me to try out a new trainer he had found. He went once or twice before getting me to go. I was pretty skeptical that it would make a difference. I was mountain biking/hiking/xc ski at least 3-4 times per week, and still do. I though at the time I was in pretty good shape. In addition, I had tried gyms before with a trainer set program, and left pretty disappointed after a month or two each time. However, my brother was raving and I figured what the heck it is a weekly fee with no commitment so at worst I work out a couple of times and then don't go back.
The basic idea is that you visit the trainer once a week and he works you out hard and then the rest of the week you do cardio on your own. I figured my upper body could use work, but didn't really think my legs could use much in the way of help. I was very very wrong. The first couple of times I was a basket case after I saw him for most of the week. Forget trying to do anything physical for a day or two afterwards and sometimes longer.
The key thing is that the trainer in question is a former hotshot and does most of the same outdoor activities that I do. So he has a frame of reference and basically knows the kind of physical shape I want to be in. We are on the same wave length.
Within about a month I was noticing a difference in my upper body strength. I climb ladders on a fairly regular basis and noticed it was easier. I also found it was a bit easier to bicycle but no huge differences. By last winter I noticed a change in my legs, specifically I noticed that it was easier to control my skis.
My brother and I do a season opener each spring for mountain biking. While we don't really stop riding all winter and we may even be riding quite a bit before the opener it is the official first ride of the spring. This year was a very big surprise. I am not a fast guy even on a bike so the amount of time it takes me to do the ride usually sets the pace of the event. My brother gets lots of breaks because he goes ahead then waits etc.... This year he didn't get near as many breaks and I was amazed that I did the ride in 1/3 to 1/4 the amount of time it usually takes. As my brother's wife said it is usually a half day thing this year we where back in time for a late breakfast.
Last year in order to get ready for the Elk season my brother instituted Hump Day. Meaning on Wednesday we would hike up a certain trail with full backpacking loads and then back down. It is 1.5 miles to the turn around and 550 or so feet of gain then loss. So a bit of a stiff hike. Last summer I avoided the hike as much as possible and then when I did go just carried my daypack which is about 1/2 my backpacking load. For me it was a lot of work to get up and backdown with just that load. This year I have been making hump day with a backpacking load. In addition, last weekend we decided to push it a bit farther. The trip was 3 miles up and 3 miles back down with 1k feet of gain then loss. We did it in a bit over 3 hrs and I was only about 15 mins behind my brother at the turn around point. He had time constraints so I just turned around and headed right backdown. I did the up and down without stopping for more then a drink of water. I was definitely ready for some food and water when I got to the truck, but I wasn't dead. The other factor is we did the hike two days after working out with the trainer, and his work outs aren't any easier now. I am just in better shape and recover quicker.
The whole point of this rambling discourse is: Working with a Joe has made a huge improvement in my capabilities and opened closed doors. Just regular exercise on my part was not enough. You don't have to hit the gym everyday or every other. Once a week is enough in my experience if you are also getting out and being active during the week. I will never be the fastest guy around, but I will get there in a lot better shape due to the Joe.
If you want to get in better shape give Joe some thought. It is well worth it in my opinion.